Murder charge framed against fire accident accused, Kerala High Court told

Kochi: The state government on Friday submitted before Kerala High Court that the police had framed murder charges against all the accused in the Puttingal fire tragedy case. Director-General of Police T. Asaf Ali made the submission on the bail pleas of the accused and said the state had slapped section 302 (murder) against the accused.

The DGP submitted that the accused were aware of the risk in the competitive firework competition. The state submitted that the use of potassium chloride, a highly explosive substance, by the agents prove that they were planning to conduct a huge fireworks display which resulted in the tragedy.

Police further submitted that a large quantity of explosive substances and manufactured fireworks had been brought to the temple premises for fireworks display in violation of the Explosives Rules.